Final Coil comes to Europe this December

It's not a huge secret for everyone looking at this blog that progressive Post Rockers Final Coil are one of those bands that I'm excited about. Having put out the third full length album "The World We Inherited" this year I think many people out there have already thought about a tour of the Leicester based formation.

But besides a couple of shows with hand picked bands in England and a first appearance at the massive Bloodstock Open Air no other opportunities surfaced (also it needs to be said that every gig that can be confirmed is already something that needs to be accomplished first). Not until now - in December 2024 this is going to change as the band has finally been able to announce three gigs in Europe. 

Those are going to take place in France in Belgium but who know's maybe there are bookers or venues out there who still look for a band to perform? Don't hesitate to contact the band through the form on the band's homepage or use the links to social sites on the left of the page to get in touch through those services.

Confirmed dates:

December 12th - Fury Bar - Rouen - w/ Once Upon The End, Silent Injury
Event page: https://fb.me/e/5ir7Fev9x
Venue information: https://www.facebook.com/furybarrouen

December 13th - The Crossover - Ghent - w/ Far Beyond
Event page: https://fb.me/e/7l8STBYyL
Venue information: https://www.thecrossover.be/

December 14th - Supersonic - Paris - w/ Homecoming, Vestige
Event page: https://fb.me/e/1KFdSU292
Venue information: https://www.facebook.com/supersonicbastille

*please note shows are free entry, except for Ghent, where tickets are 8 Euro in advance and 10 Euro OTD

If you'd like to know how the band sounds these days please try the newest video, with dark and constant pattern you'll be introduced into the band's world of subtle and intensive melodies that are both relaxing and inciting together.

Tour of The Month: The Three Tremors featuring Benedictum

Some tours completly surprise me. This particular one already starts this very wednesday and I've not been aware of before today.

Not only will it feature The Three Tremors, a band that is comprised of Ripper Owens, Harry Conklin and Sean Peck Hammer but also have various top notch opening acts.

The tourposter for the Three Tremors shows partly feat. Bendedictum

One of them are called Benedictum, a american heavy metal band featuring vocalist Veronica Freeman "The V". Looking up their music revealed to me that they are a killer band that won my heart in a rush. But there are more good news coming directly from the band. Just read on:

(Vocalist Veronica Freeman "The V") - Benedictum are getting ready to embark on a European tour. This time out new members Ed Mischke (guitar), Eddie Jucius (bass) and Mark Zapata (drums) will be joining me as we support The Three Tremors during a leg of their tour. The future will hold some new music from Benedictum as guitar player and co-founder Pete Wells will be joined by Ed Mischke for a twin guitar attack. Something The V has said she has wanted for Benedictum for a while.

(Guitarist Ed Mischke) - Eddie Jucius, Mark Zapata and myself (core members of New York power metal band SPIRITUAL SICKNESS) are super psyched to be a part of the new Benedictum and to bring this lineup to Europe with our good friends The Three Tremors. I’m personally looking forward to writing new music with founding guitarist Pete Wells and the boys and playing in front of as many people as we can. I think die hard Benedictum fans and new fans alike will be pleased by what’s heading their way

The Three Tremors European tour dates featuring Benedictum

Oct. 5 - Musigburg - Aarburg, Switzerland
Oct. 6 - The Rockpalast - Bochum, Germany
Oct. 7 - The Colosseum - Genk, Belgium
Oct. 8 - Titans Club - Lens, Belgium
Oct. 9 - Bambi Galore - Hamburg, Germany
Oct.10 - Anchor Club - Stockholm, Sweden
Oct. 11 - Bomber Bar - Motala, Sweden
Oct. 12 - Palatset - Linkoping, Sweden
Oct. 13 - Backstage Rockbar - Trollhattan, Sweden
Oct. 14 - High Voltage - Copenhagen, Denmark

Benedictum line-up 2018

Vocals - Veronica Freeman "The V"
Guitars - Pete Wells
Guitars - Ed Mischke (Spiritual Sickness)
Bass - Eddie Jucius (Spiritual Sickness)
Drums - Mark Zapata (Spiritual Sickness)

Here's a older tune for all of you to quickly get a idea of the band's sound.

St Nicholas Day gift: Missiles Of October - Better Days

It's the day again where you should give your wishlist and add some bread for the journey of St Nicholas. As for me it feels as if the list of wishes get's smaller with every year because those things can not be bought in shops....

But Missiles Of October left a nice present for all of us. Their album "Better Days" is a kicking mixture of raw vocals, pounding rhythm and dirty rough guitars. It feels great and helps a lot to let some pressure burn. It's stuff like Helmet used to craft back in their prime days I also feel slightly reminded of the anger level of Motörhead recordings - this also goes for the direct sound the recording offers.

The download is available for free but please consider to give a little to this band based in Bruxelles, Belgium. Every little bit helps them to keep on the road and play a show near you or to be able to record more music for us in the future.

You may also pick a CD or vinyl. The CD comes with nice stickers in a cool package. Just have a look at the cover - think of putting one of the cats to your next letter. Wouldn't that look cool? You can order directly via Bandcamp. A detailed list of additional retailers is at the bottom of the same Bandcamp page.

Missiles Of October Better Days album cover, (c) by Missiles Of October, used with kind permission

Finally make sure to stay tuned with the band through a Facebook connection.

Oldschool thrash package with Onslaught, Artillery & Exarsis in Europe Fall 2017

This package promises to bring in thrash like in the old days with a massive billing featuring bands that will make the club burn! Plus you can pick up the brand new Exarsis record up to four weeks ahead of the official street date. Check all the details below.

The Greek Thrashers of Exarsis will release their new album, "New War Order", on October 20th. On the occasion of the release, the band will accompany Onslaught and Artillery on their Thrash 'Till Death European Tour 2017 from 23.09 to 13.10, on which the album is already available in advance!

"New War Order" was recorded again at the D Studios in Athens and mixed and mastered by Mike Karpathiou. The album contains 10 songs with a playing time of almost 40 minutes. A "must have" for every thrash metal maniac!

Thrash 'Till Death tourdates Fall 2017 for Europe

// tourdates //
23.09 Helvete Club – Oberhausen, Germany
24.09 Hedon Club – Zwolle, Netherlands
25.09 De Verlichte Geest – Roeselare, Belgium
26.09 Roxy Concerts – Flensburg, Germany
27.09 Garage Deluxe – Munich, Germany
28.09 Moonlight Music Hall – Diest, Belgium
30.09 Kiehool Burgum – Burgum, Netherlands
02.10 Schwarzer Adler – Tannheim-Egelsee, Germany
03.10 Escape Metalcorner – Vienna, Austria
04.10 7er Club – Mannheim, Germany
05.10 Musigburg – Aarburg, Switzerland
06.10 Dagda Live Club – Pavia, Italy
07.10 Revolver Music Hall – Venice, Italy
08.10 Borderline – Pisa, Italy
09.10 Utopia Sala – Zaragoza, Spain
11.10 SMAC de La Gespe – Tarbes, France
12.10 Sala Upload – Barcelona , Spain
13.10 Urban Concept – Vitoria, Spain

Free download sampler gives overview about 30 bands from six countries

It's time for a freebie again! This one comes from Online Metal Promo who teamed up with the Breath Fresher webzine (Japan) and features not less than 30 bands from five countries, amongst them bands from the United States, Belgium, Canada, Germany and Singapore.

Looking at the tracklist I had to smile since it features two bands whose albums I reviewed some time ago and found that they featured massive and great melodic metal. To name them, Swirl and Strangelet are featured on this compilation and they've picked good songs of both bands.

Get the big free package from the website of the Breath Fresher webzine who've created a Dropbox link on their site along with detailed descriptions in several languages about the project as well as a precise overview on the contents of the release along with links to the bands. It also holds a call for new bands to email the organizers since they are about to set up another sampler from other regions of the world, too.

To give you a little sneak peak of the collection I've added the brand new lyric video for Swirls "Fourth of July" below. Enjoy and have a great summer time (enjoy while it lasts)!

Graspop Metal Meeting & Hellfest to be streamed this weekend

Two big names in the world of Heavy Metal festivals are broadcasting at least parts of the big festival line-ups - both totally for free!

First to go is the Graspop Metal Meeting which gives you the chance to see some bands on two different channels. You need to have Silverlight installed on your device to be able to watch this.

Underneath of the stream window you can check out the schedule of the bands that will be streamed - check for the green or partly green marked fields in the overview. Those bands will be shown, or at least some tracks from their set.

Keep in mind that the schedule changes over the day - bands may be added to the broadcast list very shortly (just for example: I saw two changes in the few moments of time I took to write this article - so check back often :-)  At the moment I'm typing this these bands are confirmed for today (Saturday 20th June)

Orphaned Land
Morgoth
Danko Jones
Godsmack
Judas Priest

Update 2015/06/22: It's sadly over but there's still a chance to see stuff from the Graspop Metal Meeting at the concert video archive that has been opened up. Go and watch it while it's up!

The next one to check out is the Hellfest from France. There it's a bit more complicated. Leave the guy with the gray face on the top of the page behind and scroll to the six pictures below. Hover over the stream you desire (they are sorted with the date and stage name) to see the bands that are scheduled for the live stream. One more click and you can watch it. Or even better: see the bands you want directly here on my page. Great to see the people from Arte allow embeding streams to other sites. Thanks for that! The streams start at 17:15h today.

Update 2015/06/22: It's sad to see the festival is already over now. :-( But wait, some stuff can be seen again (or for the first time if you missed it out). The Hellfest livestream page is now a archive of some of the festival performances. :-) You can watch shows from Sodom, Children of Bodom, Scorpions, Faith no more and many, many more on the linked page. Enjoy (again)!

This is what is confirmed for the Altar & Temple stage at the moment for this very saturday:

Desultory 17:25
Finntroll 18:15
Coffins 19:10
Ensiferum 20:05
Skinless 21:10
Obituary 23:35
Venom 00:40


This overview shows what will be shown from the main stage:

L7 17:50
Slash 18:40
Killing Joke 19:45
Faith No More 21:45
Scorpions 23:25

Omen to tour Europe and new song from Hammer Damage online

The legend Omen will show up in Europe! Yeah, I was also very surprised when I got to know from their Facebook site that the band is going to do a round of headliner shows already in March 2015!
Here is the list of tourdates, supportact will be Masters of Disguise:

07.03.2015 Athen (GRE)
08.03.2015 Athen (GRE)
12.03.2015 Jam, Koblenz (D)
13.03.2015 Little Devil, Tilburg (NL)
14.03.2015 German SwordBrothers Festival, Lünen (GER)
15.03.2015 UJZ, Uelsen (GER)
16.03.2015 7er Club, Mannheim (GER)
20.03.2015 Schlachthaus, Dornbirn (A)
22.03.2015 Rockfesthall, Hamme (B)

And there's one more good message: the band has uploaded a new song from the long awaited new album "Hammer Damage". Countless obstacles kept the band from releasing the album including a change of the singer plus a water damage at the studio the band was recording resulting in a loss of stuff which had to be re-done by the band.

Anyway, enjoy the new track "Hellas" which is a pure pleasure for me to listen to. Just thing of the good old times, I think this one will perfectly fitt into the long list of classics the band has put out so far.

Graspop Metal Meeting webstream broadcasts several band performances

This weekend another big, fat classic of the festival season is taking place in Belgium. It's time for the Graspop Metal Meeting. For all those of you like me who can't be there I have a little goodie. I've looked a bit around and found out that there's a official stream for the festival running. They also show of interviews and reports of the festival so you should get a good impression of what's going on over there.

At the moment the infopage says that for today Civil War, Trivium, Gojira and Satyricon will be broadcasted. The table a little further down the page even speaks of a broadcast of the show from Alter Bridge.

Tomorrow shows from Tiamat, Comeback Kid, and Schirenic plays pungent are announced for the stream. The only little cumber so far seems that you'll need to have Silverlight installed to watch it. Anyway, if you like these bands just jump over to the site where the stream and the information table with playing times is located and enjoy it.

Groezerock Festival sampler up for free download

So, the Groezerock Festival 2014 in Meerhout, Belgium on May 2nd and 3rd, 2014 is already over. Have you been there this year or on one of the previous editions and want to re-listen to some of the artists (you maybe discovered them there for the first time)?

Then this download compilation of 13 tracks from a selection of Century Media artists playing either this year's or previous editions of Groezrock including TERROR, DEEZ NUTS, IGNITE, CALIBAN, I AM HERESY (feat. Nathan Gray from Boysetsfire on vocals), HEAVEN SHALL BURN, SICK OF IT ALL and BLEED FROM WITHIN is for you.

Just click on this link to reach out to the Samplers website. You need to sign in with your email address to get access to the compilation. It also comes with a 10% discount for www.cmdistro.de but that treat is only valid for all the orders placed today.